Long Term CareDownload a printable .pdf of Health Care and the 2004 Elections: Long Term Care.IssueBackgroundOptions for Addressing Long Term Care NeedsAssessing Candidate PositionsIssueMillions of elderly and disabled Americans need long-term care services and supports. The aging of the population in the United States over the next several decades is…

Nursing Home Care Quality: Twenty Years After the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987To mark the 20th anniversary of the passage of landmark federal legislation to improve the quality of nursing home care, the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987 (known as OBRA '87), this report explains the key provisions…

The Kaiser Family Foundation helped conduct a national survey of over 1,000 informal caregivers in 1998 to assess the policy issues involved with this new, growing role for many family members and friends. Nearly one of every four adults (23 percent) is an informal caregiver, and, as the American population…

This policy brief describes the current federal staffing requirements and how states separately regulate staffing levels in nursing homes. It also presents data showing actual staffing levels in over half of this country’s nursing homes exceed the levels that states and the federal government require.

Private Long-Term Care Insurance: Who Should Buy It and What Should They Buy?Despite the growing interest in private long-term care insurance (LTCI), there has been little independent examination of how much protection LTCI policies provide consumers or whether LTCI policies are a worthwhile purchase for people of average means. This…

Long-Term Care: Medicaid's Role and ChallengesThis Policy Brief examines Medicaid's role in providing long-term care services. It describes long-term care services, the population that needs these services, and how people get long-term care services. It provides an overview of health insurance coverage of persons with long-term care needs and describes…

Vermont's Choices for Care experiment in long-term services, created through a five-year Medicaid waiver in 2005, was designed to increase access to home and community-based services while reducing the use of institutional services and controlling overall costs. In exchange for agreeing to a federal funding cap, Vermont was able to…

This issue brief examines the early successes and challenges of the Money Follows the Person Demonstration (MFP), a Medicaid initiative enacted into law in 2006 that gives states enhanced federal support to balance their Medicaid long-term care programs by providing more services in the community and fewer in institutional settings.…

This issue brief examines the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) program, a component of the health reform law that establishes a national, voluntary insurance program for purchasing community living services and supports that is designed to expand options for people who become functionally disabled and require long-term help.…